01/17/2026
Tales from the shop: I had this metal clarinet in the shop for repadding (it belongs to a UMM college band-mate of mine). Metal clarinets were common from the early 1940s to the mid-50s. They came into existence because back in the 40s, clarinets then had either wood bodies (upper-level models) or hard rubber bodies (lower-level models). But when WWII started, rubber became scarce in the general public as it was all earmarked for military use (just ask someone who was around then how difficult it was to buy tires). Plastic for clarinets hadn't been developed yet, so the industry turned to making clarinet bodies out of metal (brass or nickel). My parents even sold metal clarinets in our store when they first opened in 1953, but plastic soon replaced the metal bodies. The clarinet that came in for repair was very unusual, as the body is lacquered brass - I have never seen one that wasn't silver-plated until now. The keywork is identical to that of other clarinets. Even though they tended to not sound as good as wood models of the day or the plastic clarinets that soon followed, this one doesn't sound too bad. It's a Noblet brand, which was a good instrument when made from wood well into the 1990s.
